Going back to school: Ian Beattie, actor

Ian Beattie, Actor

When I was little, one of my father's friends owned a circus. For four absolutely incredible summers, I found myself being the only boy in Ireland who didn't dream of running away with the circus. I was in it! My parents brought me there every Monday morning and I would spend the week acting as a clown in Circus Dellabeck on tours around Northern Ireland. It was a blissful experience. As the end of August beckoned, I just didn't want to see the end of it. School felt like purgatory by comparison.

When I retired from the circus at the grand old age of 11, my parents thought it would be best to focus more on the challenges ahead and so I started at Methodist College Belfast.

There was one particular history teacher there, Dr Michael Foy, whose positive attitude and enthusiasm for his subject felt infectious. Teaching is all about transmitting a message, but this was on another level. It helped that he was a film buff, as that was something I warmed to, being a huge fan of cinema and a budding actor, even then. He was an absolutely wonderful teacher and someone for whom I have nothing but the fondest of memories.

When you’re a child, it’s easy to see school as the worst thing in the world. It’s only later in life you realise what a wonderful time it was. Looking back, I can’t believe I even wanted to leave.